{"id":39548,"date":"2016-01-19T10:06:11","date_gmt":"2016-01-19T15:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=39548"},"modified":"2022-09-29T12:26:29","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T16:26:29","slug":"ready-for-the-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2016\/01\/19\/ready-for-the-spotlight\/","title":{"rendered":"Ready for the spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Wright

Wright State acting major Heather Cooperman competes in prestigious acting competition in New York. (Photo by Erin Pence)<\/p><\/div>\n

Many freshmen students come to campus shy and unsure about their career path. But first-year acting major<\/a> Heather Cooperman came ready to hit the stage after performing in an acting competition in New York last summer.<\/p>\n

Growing up in Dublin, Ohio, Cooperman was interested in interior design, but after acting in numerous performances she gained a new interest and passion for theatre.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took theatre summer camps for a long time, then I just kept doing it up through middle school and high school, and I\u2019ve never stopped,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Cooperman has performed in over a dozen performances and enjoys singing jazz and in musicals.<\/p>\n

Performing on stage gives her a unique euphoria that can only be experienced in front of an audience. Her favorite moment while performing took place during her senior year when she had one line yet the audience responded heavily with laughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting a reaction from them is really rewarding and the energy that you get from them,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s like super incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last summer, Cooperman and her family performed \u201cThe Flower Stand,\u201d a play written by her father, Robert Cooperman, in the New York New Works Festival at the Times Square Cultural Center.<\/p>\n

When she saw \u201cThe Flower Stand\u201d performed for the first time by other actors and actresses, she said, \u201cI cried and was so proud of him, and I loved the play, and it was a very emotional moment for me.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Flower Stand\u201d is a \u201cpiece about how often we jump to judging people\u2019s motivation,\u201d said Robert Cooperman, an adjunct professor of English and theatre at Ohio University. \u201cIt teaches how there is a lot to learn about others.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Flower Stand\u201d runs about 20 minutes and has two characters: Elisa and Mr. Goldberg. Elisa sells flowers on a street corner and questions Mr. Goldberg\u2019s motives in buying a daily bouquet of flowers.<\/p>\n

Heather\u2019s brother Matthew provided music for the play. The festival website said 30 to 40 plays were selected from the hundreds submitted. The winner received $500, and all plays were reviewed by theatre professionals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were very honored to be there. It\u2019s a very prestigious company,\u201d Robert Cooperman said. \u201cIt was extra special being there with my daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n

He hopes that his daughter \u201csurpasses all that I\u2019ve done … and hopes she blossoms and shines.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the first time the Cooperman family traveled and performed together.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad\u2019s been writing plays for a long time, but we\u2019ve never had the chance to perform them,\u201d Cooperman said. \u201cIt just so happened that the main character was a girl my age, so it worked out and we made it a family affair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Performing in New York \u201cwas very nerve-wracking,\u201d Cooperman said. \u201cIt was a lot of pressure. But I\u2019m really glad that he entered the competition on a whim. I think it was a really good experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooperman looks forward to her time at Wright State. \u201cThis was one of my top schools so it was a bonus that I got in,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

As an acting major she is \u201cvery excited to see what Wright State can do for me.\u201d She hopes to learn acting techniques, to embrace being out of her comfort zone and work with others effectively and professionally.<\/p>\n

When Cooperman is not entertaining a crowd, she enjoys drawing and watching shows like \u201cSherlock,\u201d \u201cDoctor Who\u201d and \u201cMerlin\u201d on Netflix. One of her acting inspirations is Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Sherlock Holmes in \u201cSherlock.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe puts himself so fully into the roles he plays, and in interviews he is such a nice person and intelligent about the work he does, and the way he inspires me is how I want to inspire others as an actor,\u201d Cooperman said.<\/p>\n

She loves not only performing in plays but also watching performances.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love going to theatres,\u201d she said. \u201cOne show I love is \u2018Almost, Maine.\u2019 I did it in high school in my senior year, and I\u2019ve seen it multiples times, and it\u2019s so cute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooperman has watched many Broadway performances, including \u201cThe Little Mermaid\u201d and \u201cThen and Others\u201d with Idina Menzel.<\/p>\n

On the side, her family takes cruises for fun. They\u2019ve traveled to Costa Rica, Columbia, Panama, England, France, Scotland, Ireland and other places.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d love to live in London,\u201d Cooperman said. \u201cI love London and would love to perform there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wright State acting major Heather Cooperman competes in prestigious acting competition in New York. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":39552,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,2037,4859,747,715,4298,2061],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-arts-scene","category-fine-and-performing-arts","category-liberal-arts","category-news","category-student-profile","category-undergraduate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39548"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39553,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39548\/revisions\/39553"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}